The hunger for peace that had been in Adam seemed suddenly insatiable. Quietly he said, “Lord, you know what I am. You know what I’ve been. I haven’t prayed, and I’ve been guilty of every sin that a man could commit, but I’m thirsty now for something better than this. Just like this woman wanted water that would give her life, I want that, too. So I’m asking you to forgive my sins and to save me from them, and I ask it in the name of Jesus.”
The room was still, and Adam sat there. He experienced no great emotional upheaval, but a quietness had come into his spirit. He sat motionless until the door opened, and when Clint came in Adam said, “Clint, I’ve just asked God to come into my life.”
Clint stared at him, speechless; then a smile came to him and tears came to his eyes. He moved quickly across the room and gave the smaller man a hug. “I’m glad, Adam,” he said huskily, “and life will never be the same for you again.”
“I’ve got to tell Maris,” Adam said.
“Yes, she’s been praying for you.”
Adam left the room at once. He found that Maris had gone to the cottage. He moved quickly with scarcely a limp, until he reached the cottage. When he entered, he found her dressed in working clothes, cleaning. She looked up, startled, and said, “Adam, what is it? Is something wrong?”
“No,” Adam said. He came over and smiled, saying simply, “Something has happened to me, Maris. I’ve heard about it all my life, and it’s not like I thought it would be.”
Instantly Maris took a deep breath. “You have found the Lord Jesus?”
“Well, I’ve asked him to forgive me and save me. I don’t feel much different, but I know that I am. I-I don’t know if I can live like a Christian.”
Maris took his hands, “He will teach you. The Holy Spirit will be your teacher, and I will help, and Clint will help. Oh, Adam, I am so happy for you!”
Adam saw the tears in her eyes and felt his own eyes sting. “Well,” he said awkwardly, “I need all the prayers I can get. I’ve got a long way to go.”
For three days after Adam’s quiet prayer, he seemed to live in a different world. Outwardly very little had changed. The two fliers were still conscious that they were in enemy territory, and one word from a servant could throw them into a prison camp. But a peace had come over Adam that revealed itself in his countenance. He spent much time with Maris and Clint, and as the three studied the Bible together, it was amazing how his ideas had changed.
He spoke of this on a Thursday afternoon when he and Maris were walking beside the pond, as had become a daily habit with them. It was midafternoon, and the sky was gray overhead. A line of waterfowl made a ragged V, and the two watched them until they disappeared. They walked around the pond, talking quietly about small things, but finally Adam said, “One of the walls that was between us has broken down.”
Instantly Maris knew that he was speaking of the two of them. “There’s still too much between us,” she said quietly. “Don’t think of it, Adam.”
She saw a peace in him that he did not have when he came. “The war is almost over, and you will go back to America. You must marry a young woman there—one of your own people.”
Adam did not speak for a long time, but finally he said, “I don’t know much about God or how he works, but one thing seems clear to me, Maris. He brought me here for a reason, and I think you’re part of that reason.”
“We could never marry. I am German; you are American.”
Adam reached forward and took her by the arms. “You know, I can’t help thinking that my father stood here once with my mother, probably. I wonder if he told her that he loved her? I don’t know whether he did or not, but I know one thing. I love you, Maris. Germany and America have nothing to do with that.” He pulled her forward and kissed her, and there was a gentleness in him that Maris sensed, and she clung to him for a moment. When she drew back she said, “I wish it could be so.”
“Do you love me, Maris?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters! If people love each other, that’s what matters most. I’ve never needed anybody,” Adam said, “but now I know that I need you. I never understood that about a man’s and a woman’s love before. It’s you I need, not just your body, but you, yourself. Somehow you’re inside me, and I can’t just walk away from here and forget it.”
“You must, Adam. It would be a tragedy. Germany will lose and I must stay here and help try to pick up the pieces. My family will be fragmented. This place—I think we will lose it. What would happen to the countess? I must help.”
The two stood there speaking quietly, Adam pleading and Maris adamantly refusing to listen. Finally she reached up and touched his cheek. “I wish life were always nice, and ended like the romances in the books, but we must be wise.”
Adam took her hand and held it for a moment, then kissed it. “I love you, Maris, and that’s all there is to it.”
But Maris shook her head. “No, you must not say this again.” She turned and walked away, her back straight, and Adam followed her, a determination rising in his heart.
Karl stared at his mother, saying, “I knew you would ask this of me.” He had been summoned from his office to the estate, and as soon as he entered, his mother had said, “Karl, we must help my grandson and his friend escape. I could not bear the thought of their going to a prison camp.”
When Karl answered, he suddenly smiled. “I knew you would ask it of me, and I have already been making plans.”
“You’ve thought of something?”
“Yes. I think it can be done with a little money and a little luck. Let me go get them, and we will have a counsel of war.”
Thirty minutes later, Adam and Clint were in the large room. Karl Bolko had summoned them, and now he looked over at his mother and Maris, who were watching carefully. “I think I have found,” he said slowly, “a way to get you out of Germany.”
“How?” Adam asked. “I understand everyone is looking for escaped fliers.”
“That is true, but there is a way. We can get to the North Sea, and there are boats that go from there to Holland. Once you get there, it will be fairly simple to get away on a ship to England.”
Strangely enough, Adam’s first thought was not freedom and England. His first thought was, But I will have to leave Maris. He looked across the room and met her eyes and knew that she read his thoughts. She shook her head slightly and turned away. The countess did not miss this, her sharp, old eyes catching every movement, but she did not speak.
Karl spoke for some time about the plan, and finally he said, “But we must leave at once. My connections say that the ship will leave the day after tomorrow. We will have to find a way to get you on board without speaking, but I will think of something.”
Clint said, “This is more than we expected, Sir. You are putting yourself in jeopardy helping escaped prisoners.”
Bolko winked at Clint and said, “It’s all in the family, Sergeant. Besides, my mother tells me it must be done, so there you have it!”
“Well, I think we’re ready,” Karl said. He looked with a critical eye at the two young men who were dressed in civilian clothes. “Now remember, let me do all the talking. With luck we won’t meet anyone you will have to speak with.”
The plan was simple. Karl would take Adam and Clint to the ship, where he had obtained three passages. He had somehow obtained passports, although Adam and Clint never understood how, and the three of them would get on the ship bound for Holland. They would make the trip, disembark, and he would help them to find a ship bound for England. He himself would return to Germany. “It’s a little bit risky,” he admitted, “but not as much as some other things that are happening around us now.”
Adam straightened the hat on his head and looked at Clint. “You don’t look as German as I do,” he said.
“Maybe not, but I’m going anyway,” Clint answered.
Bolko said, “Come, the car is waiting.”
They moved out of the be
droom, and when they got to the foyer of the house, the countess and Maris were waiting. The countess came forward, reached up, and pulled Adam’s head down. She kissed him and said, “Good-bye, Grandson. God keep you.”
“Good-bye, Grandmother,” Adam said hastily, “but this isn’t the last good-bye. You will see me again.”
“As God wills.”
Maris held her hand out first to Clint, who took it and said, “Maris, you’ve been a lifesaver. Thank you for all you have done for us.”
“I will be praying for you and your wife, Clint,” Maris said. She turned to Adam, and her lips seemed to grow tight. “Good-bye, Adam; may God give you a safe journey.”
Adam took her hand and held it. He raised it to his lips and said quietly, “I’ll be back.” Then he turned and walked outside, stepping into the car, followed by Karl and Clint.
As the car moved away, the countess came over to stand beside Maris. “You love him very much, don’t you, my dear?”
“Yes, I do.”
The two women stood quietly watching the car disappear into the distance. Both of them were thinking of the words of Adam Stuart. “I’ll be back.” Finally the car was gone, and Maris turned and looked at the older woman. “He’s a fine man, that grandson of yours.”
“Yes, his father would have been proud of him,” the countess replied. She turned and moved away, her thoughts filled with two men—one who had died long ago, and the other who was now on a dangerous mission.
Maris went outside and walked around the pond thinking of the time she had spent here; she looked up at the sky and for a while stood silently. Finally, she moved back to the house, and still the words of Adam Stuart came to her: I’ll be back.
HOMECOMING
The old C54 lumbered in for a landing, striking the runway with a jar that shook the teeth of the two men who sat side by side.
“Wow,” Clint said, “that fellow needs to have a lesson or two!”
“I guess he does!” Adam Stuart looked out the window and said, “Well, there it is, the good old U.S. of A. You know, there were times I wasn’t sure we’d ever see it again, Clint.”
Clint looked around and said, “I guess I’d better call you Major Stuart from now on.”
Adam shrugged. “I suppose so.” He looked with affection at the tall man beside him and said, “Did you ever think we’d make the twenty-five missions?”
Clint Stuart sat quietly for a moment, thinking over the past months. The two of them had made their escape from Germany, almost miraculously, with no problem whatsoever. They had rejoined their Wing and had begun flying at once in a new aircraft. The other members of the Last Chance were in prison camps, which saddened the two men. Their new airplane called the Cincinnati Belle was a good ship, and the crew had done well also. Clint had finished his twenty-five missions before Adam, but he had flown Adam’s three last missions so that the two of them could come back to the States together. Adam had been promoted soon after his return, and Clint had risen as high as a noncom could go in the Air Force. Clint now said sensibly, “That last one, I was a little bit worried. I thought about how many fellows we knew that made twenty-four but never came back from the twenty-fifth. It was almost like it was, well, a matter of faith or something.”
The plane’s engines were shut off and they left the airplane. Their military ranks prevented them now from the familiarity that they had become used to, but they soon found their way into a cab, and on the way to the hotel where they were staying Clint said, “You know, the worst part of coming home is thinking about Woody.” Woody Stuart had been seriously wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, and the entire Stuart clan had been concerned and much in prayer for the young man.
Adam gave him a quick look and said, “He’s going to be all right—and Mona is, too.” Both men had been disturbed when they’d gotten the word that Mona had been more or less dumped by Rob Bradley. “It might be the best thing for her in the long run. Hollywood marriages aren’t the most stable things in the world.”
“I think Mona can come out of it. She had a bad bump when that actor let her down, but she’s young; she’ll get over it. At least that’s what your mother said in her last letter to me. Are you flying out to California right away?”
“Yep, and I bet you’ll be headed for Arkansas. Have you heard from Carol?” he asked abruptly.
“No, but I’ll find her.”
“I know you will, Clint, and I’ll be praying that you will.”
“Have you heard any more from the countess or from Maris?”
“Not in the last month.” Adam was rather abrupt, but he made himself smile. “I’ll never forget those days there. I guess a fellow never forgets the time he finds the Lord.”
“That wasn’t all you found there,” Clint said. Adam stared at him briefly, but by that time the taxi had pulled up to the hotel. They took a room and slept hard after their transoceanic flight. They got up early the next day, had breakfast, and Clint saw Adam off on his plane to Los Angeles. They shook hands, then oblivious to the fact that several in the airport were watching them, they embraced briefly. Then Adam stepped back and said, “I’m coming to the Ozarks. Remember, you’re going to show me how to catch the biggest bass in those hills.”
“And I’m coming to California. You’re going to introduce me to John Wayne.” They smiled at each other; then Adam turned and left for his plane. Clint watched the plane take off, then went to inquire about his flight times. The ticket agent looked at him, “Fort Smith? Where is that, in Missouri?”
“No, it’s in Arkansas. You can find it. It’s part of these United States.” As he waited, he thought about the hills and all the things that he had missed—but mostly he thought about Carol.
Lylah was on her hands and knees in the garden jabbing a small trowel into the earth. She wore a pair of faded overalls with patches sewn on the knees, and the sun beat down on her back.
“Well, is this the kind of welcome a returning hero gets?”
Lylah leaped to her feet, and when she saw Adam, who had entered from the house and was walking across the garden, she dropped the trowel with a cry and ran to him, throwing herself at him.
“Now, that’s a little bit more like it.” Adam grinned. “You’re looking fine, Mother.”
“Adam, why didn’t you tell us you were coming?”
“I wanted to surprise you. Are you surprised?”
“Well,” Lylah said quickly, “we knew you’d be here, but we didn’t know when. Come on, let’s go call your father.” She pulled him into the house, and after calling Jesse, who was at the studio, she drew him down and said, “Now, tell me everything.”
“I’ll just have to tell it again when Dad gets here.”
“That’s all right; I want to hear it twice.” Lylah held his hand, and could not stop smiling from time to time. She was thinking how fit he looked, tanned and sure of himself, and she listened avidly as he described his experiences in Germany.
Jesse got there thirty minutes later, just as Adam was recounting the details of his conversion. Jesse suggested, “Let’s go out to celebrate!”
“No, I’m going to cook tonight,” said Lylah. “We can go out any other time, but now we’re going to have steak and baked potatoes, and I’ll make a cherry pie, Adam’s favorite.”
“I guess I can stand that.” Adam grinned. “Come on, Dad, I picked up a few pointers in pool. I intend to take you for all you’re worth.”
They had a fine, quiet supper, all of them laughing loudly, as though they were almost out of control. Then later, after supper, they talked far into the night. Lylah listened avidly as Adam told of his experiences in the Richthofen house. At first Adam was afraid that Jesse might be offended, but then he was quickly reassured when his stepfather seemed to be as interested as Lylah herself.
Finally, Adam said slowly, “I got to know my father while I was there. His mother showed me every picture he ever had taken.”
“Did-did she mention me?” Lylah asked
falteringly.
“Yes, she did.” Adam related what the countess had said and then said gently, “She said she wished that she had gotten to know you better.”
“It wasn’t to be,” Lylah said gently. “She was different in those days. I suppose the loss of two of her sons has broken her.”
“It bent her a little bit, but she’s not broken. She said she’d like to see you again, Mother.”
“Maybe we can go after the war is over.”
“What about this woman, Maris,” Jesse said. “Tell us some more about her.”
His words opened the gate, and for the next hour Adam spoke of Maris. When the party finally broke up and Jesse and Lylah were in their bedroom, Lylah said, “He’s in love with that woman.”
“It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” Jesse said, buttoning his pajamas. He got into bed and pulled the covers up and shook his head. “It presents kind of a problem, doesn’t it?”
“You mean because she’s German?”
“Yes, of course, she’s halfway around the world now, and things will be difficult.”
“Things were difficult for us, if you remember. The first time I ever saw you I broke a pot over your head.” She saw his smile and slipped into bed beside him, turning the light out. The two lay holding each other, talking quietly, and Jesse said, “That’s a pretty stubborn son we’ve got there. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t go back to see that young woman.”
Winds of Change Page 33